How Cannabis Helped Shape the United States of America

In America, cannabis is only just starting to get recognized as a plant that can heal. However, America was built on cannabis, or hemp, and even in the black market, cannabis managed to do a lot of good. Here are just a few ways that cannabis helped to shape America.

Today when we think of hemp, we probably think of necklaces and clothing worn by hippies and cannabis enthusiasts. However, hemp is so much more. It was one of the major cash crops in early America, along with other items like peanuts and cotton. In fact, it wasn’t until the Reefer Madness scare, that hemp was no longer considered as a valuable commodity. Now that cannabis is getting decriminalized, hemp is coming back and showing all it’s great potential.

In fact, hemp was used to make a lot of essential items in olden times, such as the paper (the Declaration of Independence and Constitution are written on hemp), rope, clothing and food. At the time, hemp just made sense as one of the best crops to cultivate. It wasn’t until cannabis became demonized that people decided it was taboo to use hemp for fiber.

A lot of great thinkers had their ideas while high on cannabis. Carl Sagan admitted to smoking cannabis to come up with a lot of his concepts regarding race relations and human history, and many great peace activists were stoned while coming up with their plans for affecting change.

In the 60s, people started getting introduced to the idea of expanding consciousness using psychoactive substances. LSD was wildly popular, as were mushrooms, cannabis, and peyote. While there’s no denying that there could be some benefits to those other substances, they are incredibly strong, mind-altering drugs that can sometimes have negative effects. Cannabis, on the other hand, is very safe, mild, and something that can most people can consume responsibly.

Now that the stigma around cannabis is finally fading away, it’s starting to bring money to all the states that have legalized it, and it’s bringing medical relief to thousands, if not millions, around the country. People everywhere are starting to see cannabis in a different light. What they don’t realize, though, is that this substance has been behind the scenes, having a positive impact for ages.